Throughout the pandemic and resulting supply chain shortages, many companies have raised prices to help tackle rising production costs. While LEGO always seems to get some flack for its steep going rates, things are about to increase as the company plans to adjust pricing heading into the fall.
LEGO price increases coming this fall
From the most infamous GPU shortages and subsequent price hikes to even Amazon Prime increasing its Prime membership costs, products and services of all kinds have taken the past two years as a chance to raise pricing. The LEGO Group is seemingly no longer an exception to that, as the company has formally announced that builders can expect to see pricing increase later this year.
First reported on yesterday by the folks over at StoneWars.de, it seems that the story has encouraged the LEGO Group to get out ahead of negative criticisms. Builders as of now have nothing to worry about, but will begin seeing the prices change on existing sets come August and September. New creations that will be released following that time frame are also expected to have prices increased, as well.
Here’s what the LEGO Group has to officially say on the matter of price increases:
The current global economic challenges of increased raw material and operating costs are impacting many businesses.
Putting consumers first is at the heart of what we do as a company, and for some time, we have absorbed these costs to keep pricing stable. However, as these costs have continued to rapidly rise, we have taken the decision to increase the price on some of our sets. This increase will come into effect in August and September.
The increase will differ depending on the set and prices will change on around a quarter of the portfolio. On some sets we will not alter price, on others there will be a single digit increase and on larger, more complex sets the percentage increase will be higher.
We will continue to work to ensure our products offer great value and full recognise how important this is to our fans and everyone who love our products.
9to5Toys’ Take
As of now, the biggest thing up in the air is which sets and just how much will the prices actually increase. We likely won’t be seeing an official list any time soon, or at least not until the LEGO Group begins phasing out the updated going rates.
It’s worth pointing out, though, that many sets have already been seeing the inflated pricing built in over the past year. The most recent and notable example has to be the Iron Man Armory that just landed for June 1 with an eye-watering $90 price tag for its 496 included pieces.
Though the latest LEGO Star Wars battle pack might be an even better example. Back at the start of 2022, the new Snowtrooper army builder set launched not with the usual $15 price tag that we see for these kinds of sets, but an inflated $20 going rate. That change alone already stirred up quite the uproar from fans, and justifiably so. I am imagining that most of the pricing updates going forward will be in the same vein as that battle pack.
One thing is certainly for sure though – all of these LEGO price increases are going to make our jobs at 9to5Toys a bit more crucial. We already share all of the best discounts on LEGO sets both new and old, but any chance to save going forward is going to be more important than ever.
With as high of margins as the LEGO Group likely has, increasing prices is pretty indefensible, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see for how the increases actually roll out. Even an extra $5 to $10 here and there is going to add up for older fans like myself, and will likely make it even harder for younger builders to save up to afford the few kits they can get each year.
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